✂️ The fastest way to start an edit

Every editor knows the feeling of facing a blank timeline. There are a thousand decisions to be made and sometimes it’s easier to watch Youtube.

This is what Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, calls the Resistance. It’s that internal voice that will say anything to stop you from creating. If there is something easier to do, we’ll default to that.

So how do we get past that resistance?

Exercise the muscle of creativity

First, we have to work the muscle of pushing through the resistance. We have to increase our stamina for hard work. I remember feeling this in my early years of editing, when I realized that I always needed a break when I came up against something hard creatively.

But you can get stronger by pushing through, even if it’s telling yourself to try for 5 minutes, and then you can take a break.

Separate deciding from doing

The next thing is to separate deciding from doing. When started a new timeline, you have to decide which shot works best, then do the work of finding that shot, trimming it, and putting it in the timeline. Those are two separate actions and require two different parts of your brain.

Deciding requires abstract thinking to answer the question “which shot will work best here?” You need to be open to the possibilities.

In contract, doing requires concrete thinking. ”I will use this shot, with these in and out points, and put the shot here.”

By separating those actions your brain isn’t multi-tasking. This gives you one clear objective to focus on.

Start with an outline edit

To help me do this, I start every project with what I call an outline edit. I started doing this a couple years ago and it dramatically reduced my resistance to starting a new timeline and it also sped up my process.

To make an outline edit, instead of searching through bins trying to find the right clip, you just put a text placeholder in the timeline.

If you have a script and it says, “Drone shot over the city,” just make a text placeholder and put that in the timeline.

If you are building the project from scratch, or maybe you just have a voiceover or music, then take a moment to think about what shot would work well in that spot and make a text placeholder for it.

The important thing is, you are not searching through bins. Just put the shot you want in a text placeholder and leave it there. You want to build the whole edit, whether it’s a scene or a commercial or whatever you’re editing, out of text placeholders.

When you finish, you’ll have the project from start to finish with just text on screen.

The next step is simple: just go back and replace the text placeholder with the images you’ve listed.

This approach has three big benefits:

• It gives you a low-energy way to start

• You can dream big about what shots or assets go best in a section

• You’ll be faster when you go to put in footage, because the deciding is already done

Next time you are starting a new edit, give it a try. You’ll quickly see the benefits.

Do you want to double your hourly pay?

It took me 7 years to work my hourly rate up to $65/hr. Then I made a few small changes and I now regularly hit $135/hr.

I’m making a resource to help you do the same—but first I’m looking for 10 editors to help me beta test it.

If you’re interested, apply at the link 👇

Thanks for reading!

If you give the content edit a try, I’d love to hear how it goes!

Until then, keep cutting,

– Jesse